Enough is Enough, No more Bersih, NO more street mob violence

Original Post, please read updated video at the end to find out who instigated the violence:

Enough is enough, NO MORE #Bersih it has degenerated into a violent anti Government demo and is a clear and present danger to Malaysian Society.


Ambiga and her Bersih Mob should stop taking their complaints to the streets, start engaging with SPR like a normal civil society movement, otherwise stop calling yourself one, as you are behaving like an Uncivil society.


No more Bersih...PDRM should arrest all the leaders and organisers if they announce another Bersih on the streets.


PDRM should also arrest on sight all adults who brings toddlers and children to street demos like Bersih.

The Bersih mob attacking the Polis Car with the injured Policeman still  inside

Polis motorbike attacked and damaged, fate of Police Rider unknown

Parents who brings toddlers and children to street demos which could become violent should be arrested on sight

Dari Ketua Polis KL

SEBELUM PESERTA PERHIMPUNAN MEREMPUH DAN MEMASUKI DATARAN MERDEKA, TERDAPAT BEBERAPA ORANG PEMIMPIN PEMBANGKANG DAN NGO, TELAH MEMBERI UCAPAN KEPADA PESERTA PERHIMPUNAN. DI MASJID NEGARA UCAPAN DI SAMPAIKAN OLEH DATUK SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM, MAT SABU, DAN LIM KIT SIANG. DI LRT MASJID JAMEK, DATUK SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM DAN DATO’ AMBIGA SREENEVASAN, DI JALAN TUN PERAK, UCAPAN DIBERIKAN OLEH AZMIN ALI, MANAKALA DI SOGO OLEH DR.HATTA RAMLI, MAHFUZ OMAR, DAN SALLEHUDDIN AYUB.

SELEPAS UCAPAN TERSEBUT, PESERTA PERHIMPUNAN TELAH BERTINDAK AGRESIF DENGAN MEMBALING PELBAGAI OBJEK KE ARAH POLIS DAN MEREMPUH PENGHADANG SERTA BERGERAK MENGHALA KE DATARAN MERDEKA. PIHAK POLIS TELAH MENGAMBIL TINDAKAN DENGAN MELEPASKAN TEMBAKAN AIR DAN KEMUDIANNYA DIIKUTI DENGAN GAS PEMEDIH MATA BAGI MENGHALANG KEMARAAN KUMPULAN TERSEBUT. KUMPULAN BERKENAAN TELAH BERTINDAK GANAS SEHINGGA MENYEBABKAN (11) ORANG ANGGOTA POLIS TERCEDERA, (9) ORANG ANGGOTA DIRAWAT DI HOSPITAL KUALA LUMPUR (HKL) DAN (2) ORANG ANGGOTA DIRAWAT DI PUSAT PERUBATAN UNIVERSITI KEBANGSAAN MALAYSIA (PPUKM).

MANGSA KEJADIAN ADALAH SEPERTI BERIKUT: 

1. KPL 165534 MOHD FAIRUZ BIN ZULKIFLI, ANGGOTA CAWANGAN TRAFIK KUALA LUMPUR, MENGALAMI KECEDERAAN LUKA DAN CALAR DI BADAN AKIBAT DITENDANG DAN DIPIJAK OLEH PESERTA PERHIMPUNAN. BELIAU DIRAWAT DI HKL. 

2. KPL 141269 ABU BAKAR BIN ABDUL RAHMAN, ANGGOTA IPD PUTRAJAYA, MENGALAMI KECEDERAAN PECAH DIBIBIR, BENGKAK BAWAH MATA KIRI DAN KESAKITAN DI BADAN AKIBAT DITUMBUK DAN DIBALING OBJEK SEHINGGA TERJATUH DARIPADA MOTOSIKAL. BELIAU DIRAWAT DI PPUKM.

3. KONST 171506 AZIZI BIN MOHD NOH, ANGGOTA CAWANGAN TRAFIK BUKIT AMAN, MENGALAMI KECEDERAAN DI PIPI AKIBAT DIBALING OBJEK KERAS DAN MENDAPAT RAWATAN DI HKL.

4. L/KPL 152574 MOHD NASIR BIN ABU MANSUR, ANGGOTA CAWANGAN TRAFIK KUALA LUMPUR, MENGALAMI KESAKITAN BADAN DAN TIDAK BOLEH DUDUK AKIBAT TERJATUH MOTOSIKAL DAN DIPUKUL DI PERUT. BELIAU DIRAWAT DI HKL.

5. L/KPL 157576 DATU MOHD JOHAR DATU SHARIMAN, ANGGOTA CAWANGAN TRAFIK KUALA LUMPUR, MENGALAMI KECEDERAAN DI MATA AKIBAT DITUMBUK OLEH PESERTA PERHIMPUNAN. BELIAU MENERIMA RAWATAN SEBAGAI PESAKIT LUAR DI HKL.

6. KONST 178857 MOHD NOR FIRDAUS BIN HJ ABU BAKAR, ANGGOTA IPD PUTRAJAYA, MENGALAMI KECEDERAAN RETAK TULANG LENGAN KANAN DAN DIRAWAT DI PPUKM.

7. KONST 175128 MOHD KAMIL BIN PARIMIN, ANGGOTA IPK TERENGGANU, MENERIMA 7 JAHITAN DI KEPALA DAN DIRAWAT DI HKL.

8. KONST 179689 ZAMAN BIN ALI, ANGGOTA BALAI POLIS WANGSA MAJU, MENGALAMI KECEDERAAN PATAH HIDUNG DAN DIRAWAT DI HKL.

9. SJN 84797 SHUIB BIN JAMALUDDIN, ANGGOTA IPD KANGAR, SAKIT DARAH TINGGI DAN DIRAWAT DI HKL.

10. L/KPL 124962 TUAN RUZI BIN TUAN SENG, ANGGOTA IPD MACHAP JOHOR, KECEDERAAN PATAH DUA BATANG GIGI, KOYAK DI BAHAGIAN BIBIR (7 JAHITAN DI DALAM BIBIR), DAN LEBAM SELURUH BADAN. BELIAU DIRAWAT DI HKL.

11. L/KPL 157813 AMIRUL BIN NAWRI, ANGGOTA BALAI POLIS PORT DICKSON, MENGALAMI SESAK NAFAS AKIBAT DITUMBUK. BELIAU DIRAWAT DI HKL.

PESERTA PERHIMPUNAN JUGA TELAH MEROSAKKAN KENDERAAN PASUKAN POLIS, IAITU (2) BUAH KERETA PROTON WAJA, SEBUAH PACUAN EMPAT RODA NISSAN XTRAIL DAN SEBUAH MOTOSIKAL. KATEGORI KENDERAAN TERSEBUT ADALAH SEPERTI BERIKUT:

1. (1) PROTON WAJA KL176, MENGALAMI KEROSAKAN CERMIN SEBELAH PEMANDU PECAH DAN ANTENA (AERIAL) BELAKANGNYA DIPATAHKAN.

2. (1) PROTON WAJA WTJ2974, MENGALAMI KEROSAKAN SEMUA CERMIN HADAPAN DAN BELAKANG SERTA TINGKAP PECAH AKIBAT DITERBALIKKAN OLEH PESERTA PERHIMPUNAN. 

3. (1) NISSAN XTRAIL WQW 160, MENGALAMI KEROSAKAN SEMUA CERMIN TINGKAP DAN CERMIN HADAPAN PECAH. BADAN KENDERAAN KEMEK. 

4. (1) MOTOSIKAL TRAFIK WSB 723, JENIS HONDA CBX 750 TELAH DIBAKAR OLEH PESERTA PERHIMPUNAN.

PERHIMPUNAN YANG DIADAKAN DI DATARAN MERDEKA TELAH BERJAYA DISURAIKAN OLEH PIHAK POLIS DAN PIHAK POLIS MASIH LAGI MEMANTAU KEADAAN DAN KETENTERAMAN AWAM DI KAWASAN TERSEBUT.

t.t

( MOHMAD BIN SALLEH ) DCP

KETUA POLIS 

KUALA LUMPUR.

(Dikeluarkan pada 28 April 2012 jam 2240hr)

Updated 29 April 2012:

The real instigator of Bersih Mob Violence, Updated 1 May 2012 source here:

No need for Bersih3: SPR comes up with fact filled rebuttal of false claims against it

FAKTA SEBENAR

 DI SEBALIK DAKWAAN DAN FITNAH TERHADAP SURUHANJAYA PILIHAN RAYA (SPR)

Buku ini diterbitkan bertujuan untuk menangkis dakwaan serta fitnah yang tidak berasas terhadap SPR yang dipercayai berpunca dari kurangnya kefahaman di pihak-pihak tertentu terhadap tatacara kerja di pihak SPR, termasuk keperluan bagi pematuhan terhadap peraturan serta undang-undang yang digunapakai selama ini oleh SPR:

Click here to read the full facts

Would a Mountain of Lynas waste be a problem?

Many friends who I have spoken to have genuine concern about the safety of Lynas Gebeng to the people and environment in its vicinity, especially on the waste by-product that it will produce once it is in full production capacity. I think those are valid questions, but most of these questions has been brought about by a layman's poor understanding and lack of knowledge about radiation and that include me. I hope the following explanation by Dato' Dr. Looi would throw some light into the level of safety of the anticipated waste byproduct from Lynas Gebeng:

The Problem: A Mountain of Lynas Waste ?
A reader once asked " Would it be safe to say 132,000,000,000 bq will be resulting from 22,000 tonnes of Lynas waste even though it has only 6 bq per gm?"

Well, Thorium-232 produces only alpha rays (gamma rays from daughter isotopes are insignificant, please see below) which cannot pass through even a thin piece of paper or the surface of the skin.

If you have a lump of pure Thorium-232, all you need to do is to wrap it up in newspaper and that will stop all the alpha radiation from getting out!
Since alpha particles of Thorium-232 which decay with energies of 3.8 to about 4.8 MeV can travel only a couple of centimetres in air, only less than 50 micron in fluids and much less in solid material, even if you have a huge pile of Lynas waste, the external radiation would not increase by much because only a tiny percentage of thorium-232 atoms directly on the surface of the pile will be able to radiate out their alpha particles.

Those just below the surface will remain inside the pile. Each alpha particle will just pick up 2 electrons and be converted to the simple non-radioactive helium gas.

Even those alpha particles from the surface will be converted to harmless helium gas after a few centimetres through the air.

So all that your mountain of Lynas waste will only "radiate" harmless non-radioactive Helium gas.
The radiation of 6 bq/gm from the weakly radioactive Thorium-232 in the Lynas waste is so low that even IAEA do not consider it significant and as such can be transported without any special permission.

One reader stated that although Thorium-232 may not be dangerous, all their "daughter" isotopes have very short half-lives like Radon-220 and these are highly radioactive, so how could we say that Thorium-232 is not dangerous.

Well, the reason is obvious. But I find great difficulty in explaining to the layman the reason why when an element with an extremely long half-life that decays into isotopes with very short half-life, there is minimal accumulation of the short half-life isotopes and as such do not build up into a large enough quantity to pose any significant hazard.

I will try to explain by this simple analogy.

If there are 2 million people waiting outside a stadium and 1 million people managed to get into the stadium after 14,000,000,000 years (half-life of Thorium-232), it means that you will see only 1 person getting into the stadium every 14,000 years.

But once in the stadium the half-life of the new person (half-life of Radon-220 from the Thorium-232 decay chain is only 55 seconds) is so short when compared with those outside (Thorium-232) that he has left the stadium almost immediately. Getting in is extremely slow but getting out is extremely fast!

Since only 1 person gets into the stadium every 14,000 years, if you look into the stadium you will see it as empty most of the time!

It is just like trying to fill up a bucket by a slow, slow drop by drop drip and the bucket has a big hole at the bottom. If you look into the bucket you will see practically little or no water in it!

Since the Lynas waste product has only 6 Bq/gm of radioactivity, the chance of detecting any significant amount of radon gas is pretty slim indeed.

Dato' Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB.,ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)

 

Save Malaysian Jobs, Start Lynas Gebeng

Update 24 April 2012, 

Another enlightening comment from Dato' Dr. Looi that I would like to share with readers, notice that they do not have Stop Arafura, Stop Avalone, Stop Molycorp compaign in Australia, South Africa or USA:

 hwlooi said...

New Rare earth plants

1. Arafura di Whayalla Australia
2. Great Western Minerals di Steenkampskraal South Afrika
3. Avalon Rare Metal di Thor Lake Canada
4. Alkane di Dubbo New South Wales Australia
5. Molycorp Inc. in Mountain Pass, California, USA


In the past the rare earth plants in America were closed for the same reason why any mine or company close down...it had become uneconomical i.e. losing money!

This was because at that time China was selling rare earth elements at a ridiculously low price and nobody could compete with them.

Feb 22, 2012 :
Molycorp Inc. said it will start up a newly constructed rare earths processing plant at its Mountain Pass, Calif., operation this week.
Crushing and cracking operations as well as the facility’s combined heat and power plant are scheduled to come online this week, while other components—including milling and mineral extraction, rare earth oxide...

Australians building Giant Rare Earth Plant in Australia:

It should also be noted that Australians are delighted that a company called Arafura is building a huge Rare Earth Processing Plant costing over A$1 Billion in Whyalla in South Australia.


This plant is expected to produce over 1,000 high paying jobs for the Australians.

Arafura must be hoping that we are stupid enough to stop Lynas and stop competing with them.

Dato' Dr Looi Hoong Wah.
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London

24 April 2012 04:56

 

Original posting:

"Remember the Tin slags from the Eastern Smelting and Straits Trading in Penang ? These, which contain the tantalum and monazite ore, and the monazite ore can be more than 3,700 % more radioactive than the Lynas waste.

And these radioactive tin slags were used to fill up the old Penang Stadium and the roads in Penang. A lot of these has already been stolen and sold off at a huge profit, but a lot still remains in the roads in Butterworth and Penang island.

The people in Penang have not developed Cancer so far as a result of these slags!"

Dr. Looi Hoong Wah

My recent post on Lynas Gebeng had a surprise distinguished visitor, Datuk Dr. Looi Hoong Wah himself, I would like to share his comments, which would more or less put paid to the rubbish and scare mongering by the Stop Lynas crowd. I am reproducing his comments in full as follows, please read:

 hwlooi said...

All the Anti-Lynas foot soldiers and RED GUARDS BARU should realise that they have been misled by some very sophisticated ultra-devious people who are experts in mass brainwashing and are using the issue to gain political mileage for their own evil ulterior motives.

In Bukit Merah, the radiation comes from Thorium and Uranium which are our own and has been in Malaysia for billions of years.

Although the radiation level is well over 37 times that of the Lynas waste, there is no definite well controlled scientific proof that the cases of leukaemia and birth defects are caused by radiation from the waste.

I have seen lots of cases of leukaemia and other types of cancer as well as birth defects over the last 45 years or so in Malaysia and unfortunately we do not have Lynas around at that time to use as a scapegoat.

Unscrupulous people have been using videos and pictures of patients with congenital abnormalities and other illnesses to instil fear into the population. There is absolutely no scientific proof that these cases are caused by radiation.

Only the absolutely immoral people would use pictures and videos of these unfortunate patients whose disorders have nothing to do with radiation to score political points !

In the south of the state of Kerala in India the soil contains as much as 4,000 ppm (parts of Thorium per million). Studies have shown that there is little or no accumulation of Thorium-232 in the inhabitants.

The Lynas waste contains only 1,650 ppm.

It has been estimated that in the worst case scenario, the radiation risk from the Lynas plant is only 0.002 mSv/yr.

In Ramsar, Iran, the naturally occurring radiation
is extremely high at 260 mSv/yr.
This is 13,000,000% higher than the expected worse case scenario in Kuantan.

And the people in Ramsar, Iran has been found to be healthier and live longer than the rest of the Iranians! There is also no increase in the number of cancer cases.

Remember the Tin slags from the Eastern Smelting and Straits Trading in Penang ? These, which contain the tantalum and monazite ore, and the monazite ore can be more than 3,700 % more radioactive than the Lynas waste.

And these radioactive tin slags were used to fill up the old Penang Stadium and the roads in Penang. A lot of these has already been stolen and sold off at a huge profit, but a lot still remains in the roads in Butterworth and Penang island.

The people in Penang have not developed Cancer so far as a result of these slags!

Even ordinary Sand (crystalline silica, SiO2) is classified as a group 1 Carcinogen (a confirmed cancer causing agent), but as you know, we do not expect a huge number of people in living in the deserts or along the seashores to die from silica induced lung cancer.

The lung cancer risk occurs only when fine sand (silica) is inhaled by miners for a prolonged period in the quarries and mines i.e. silica is not a carcinogen when ingested and of course not when injected for nobody would allow you to inject sand into their veins.

Thorium-232 is a very weakly radioactive substance and produces only alpha particles which cannot even penetrate a thin piece of paper.
All you have to do is to wrap it up in a piece of newspaper and it is for all intents an purposes, is non-radioactive !

" Thorium-232 is considered to be a carcinogen only IF ADMINISTERED INTRAVENOUSLY AS A COLLOIDAL DISPERSION OF THORIUM-232 DIOXIDE."
It is not considered to be a cancer causing substance if taken orally or inhaled according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer IARC, just like silica (sand) which is not carcinogenic if ingested.

Dato' Dr Looi Hoong Wah

22 April 2012 23:43

 hwlooi said...

There are only 2 natural ways of getting any substance into your body:

1. By Eating it (Ingestion) or

2. By Breathing it (Inhalation)

Thorium-232 in clay soil cannot get into you blood stream if you eat it because of it's strong adsorption to clay (stuck firmly to clay).

As explained below, you need to eat far more than 17,000 Kilograms of Lynas waste before you can get cancer in about 30 years time in your old age.

Likewise, you need to breathe in 3.4 Kilograms of Lynas waste (in order to get 5.58 gm of Thorium or 1 vial of Thorotrast) to get cancer in about 30 years time !

As stated, Kuantan people are not MINERS and as such it is impossible to inhale 3.4 Kilograms even in a life-time !

Thorium-232 is harmless when outside the body as it produces only alpha rays which cannot penetrate even a thin piece of paper.

All you have to do is to wrap it up in a piece of newspaper and it will become virtually non-radioactive.

So if Thoriun-232 cannot get into the body in significant amount by inhalation or ingestion and it poses no external threat,

HOW and WHY on earth IS IT CONSIDERED TO BE SO DANGEROUS BY THE ANTI-LYNAS PEOPLE ?

My Reply to Soo Jin Hou’s Letter in the Sun Daily

“LET’S de-politicise the Lynas issue” (Letters, March 23) refers.
The writer said 0.02% to 0.05% of ingested thorium is absorbed and gets into the blood stream. Absorption studies were done on animals for obvious reasons, and in the vast majority of these, the thorium was not mixed with clay, which binds very strongly to the clay particles i.e. adsorbed.

Thorium-232 is strongly bound (adsorbed) by soil especially clay soil. The thorium concentration in the clay particles is about 500,000% higher than in the water between the clay particles (the interstitial spaces of the clay particles). So, it cannot be leached out by water or intestinal juice.

When ingested, there is insignificant absorption of the thorium because of this strong bond between clay particles and thorium. Practically all the thorium will be excreted in the faeces with the clay.
So the actual amount of thorium that is absorbed into the blood stream when mixed with clay soil as in the case of the Lynas waste is much, much less than 0.02%.

Since Lynas waste contains 1,650 parts of thorium per million and even if we take the inflated rate of 0.02% absorption, it would mean that to get 0.33g of thorium into the blood stream, we have to swallow 1,000kg (1 tonne) of Lynas waste!

Practically all the data on the carcinogenic effects of thorium-232 was obtained retrospectively from the intravenous use of a massive dose of thorium dioxide called Thorotrast (a 25cc vial of a 25% colloidal suspension of thorium dioxide) in investigative radiological studies.

Studies appear to show that a small number out of the 4 million patients who were given this massive dose of 1 or 2 vials (containing 5.58g to 11.7g of thorium) of Thorotrast, developed cancer especially of the liver 20 to 30 years later in their old age.

So in order to get 5.58g of thorium-232 (equivalent to 1 vial of Thorotrast), we have to swallow an incredible 17,000kg or 17 tonnes of Lynas waste!

I do not think anybody in Kuantan will be able to swallow 17 tonnes of Lynas waste … and that is assuming that the thorium-232 is not strongly adsorbed to clay particles.

With respect to the inhalation of thorium-232, all studies were conducted on workers in the uranium or thorium mining or refining industry and not on populations in towns like Kuantan, and therefore do not apply to the present issue.

Datuk Dr Looi Hoong Wah

22 April 2012 23:44

I have nothing further to add except that I hope the Gomen stop mucking about with the Stop Lynas group and allow Lynas Gebeng plant to proceed with the initial operations so that Lynas can measure whatever need to be measured in their plant supervised by the AELB experts as a prelude to a longer long term license to operate.

Dear Minister, please rescind the DBKL ban on the 28th April Bersih3 sit in

"Banning the Bersih3 sit in will only play into the hands of the Pakatan who will respond with much drama on 28 April 2012 you can be sure of that."

Me

The latest news that will boost the so obviously Pakatan sponsored Bersih3.0 sit in demonstration which chose Dataran Merdeka specifically because they expect DBKL will not approve :

City Hall says no, Bersih 3.0 to go ahead

According to the TMI, the DBKL in a one paragraph statement said that "Dataran Merdeka Untuk Acara bertaraf Nasional. Contohnya Hari Kebangsaan atau Hari Wilayah Persekutuan dan acara yang setaraf dengannya". 

Well Datuk Bandar DBKL I would like to remind you that there was a huge sit in, watching the world Cup 2010 at Dataran Merdeka. (source here). Thousands of people were sitting on the green grass of Dataran Merdeka for the finals including myself, yup, I was there. There was no trouble as people were allowed to watch the matches without let or hindrance.

I am not a fan of Bersih 1,2 or this coming Bersih 3 or later 4, its just an excuse by democrazy people who just wants to demo and I do not care to even discuss about their electoral demands as the Government had bent over backwards to suit their demands forming a PSC and some of the demands  which I think is ridiculous like the usage of indelible ink instead of computerised verification is even accepted for next GE13. 

Not being a fan of Bersih3, which by now every one knows will be reinforced by specialist demonstrators from PKR, DAP and PAS together with Himpunan Hijau and God knows who else joining in the Ambiga/Anwar bandwagon with their own agenda. 

I envisage that the ban on Bersih3 at Dataran Merdeka will cause confrontation with the PDRM and DBKL, the Authorities will have to set up road blocks to prevent people who are hell bent to sit in Dataran Merdeka from coming into  KL. This will cause massive traffic jams pissing off everybody, the democrazies and the innocent public included, on a possibly hot Saturday to boot, and when the Bersih3/Pakatan crowd gets unruly they will provoke the PDRM who will have to react with Baton Charge or lobbing tear gas much like the useless Bersih 2 which got maximum negative publicity for the BN Gomen. Ya you are right, did anybody even remember what Bersih2 was all about, what they remembered were the PDRM tear gas, the dead people coming back to life drama nothing about what Bersih2 was actually about.

Banning the Bersih3 sit in will only play into the hands of the Pakatan who will respond with much drama on 28 April 2012 you can be sure of that.

I sincerely hope that the ban on the Dataran Merdeka Sit In on Bersih 3 is rescinded. The Authorities should not give Bersih3 the publicity that they so very much need. Allow the sit in much like how the authorithies in Kuantan allowed the Himpunan Hijau gathering a couple of months back, do not give Bersih3 their CNN or Al-jazeera moments. At the time the Pahang MB aptly called the gathering a DemoTourism, brings in revenue to Kuantan folks what.

Bersih3 will die a natural death with no publicity. So please Minister, do not give them the oxygen they need, starve them of publicity by rescinding the ban.

In life nothing is free, PTPTN should and must remain

PTPTN = Pinjaman( Yuran Belajar + Sara Hidup)

(Me)

Those who do not like the idea of taking a loan for their studies are free to do so. They can source for other ways to fund their tuition. Just like everything else in life, you cannot expect a free pass from the government. You have to earn it by virtue of your academic and co-curricular excellence.

(Dr Kamal Amzan)

On the PTPTN loan, I totally agree with this post written by Dr. Kamal Amzan (source from TMI here):

PTPTN should remain

April 19, 2012

APRIL 19 — Those who do not like the idea of taking a loan for their studies are free to do so. They can source for other ways to fund their tuition. Just like everything else in life, you cannot expect a free pass from the government. You have to earn it by virtue of your academic and co-curricular excellence.

The same logic applies to housing loans, car loans, business loans etc. Just because your business is not doing well doesn’t exempt you from paying what you owe.

It is called responsibility.

PTPTN allows our students the freedom of choice between public and private tertiary centres. If our students feel like joining the so-many mushrooming foreign universities in Malaysia, but are unable to fund their course, PTPTN may just be the answer.

If they want to work, and study at the same time why not? They are not obliged to take up PTPTN.

The rich will not be affected, some of the middle class won’t, but the poor definitely will unless well, they are good academically . Given how the rural schools and teachers are equipped, it is my opinion that they will be at the losing end yet again.

Even with the implementation of minimum wage, can the rural parents afford tuition, books, stationery, living expenses in cities without PTPTN?

What if they have not one but a few children in the universities? With their income, education loans from banks are out of the question. The government? Let’s face it, no government can help all.

Settling some RM20 billion of the PTPTN bill is not the issue — the issue is whether the government can maintain the growth in the education industry without PTPTN?

Can the government afford to give out so many scholarships to all the straight A students of SPM and STPM? For now, we don’t even know how the scholarships are awarded.

Some mention Petronas money, but how long before the well runs dry and we scramble to find another way to fund our education?

What about those who do not qualify academically but merit assistance due to socio-economic disadvantages or their good co-curricular background? 

The issue is also whether our students who have agreed to pay for their studies and signed the contract should be given a clean slate at the expense of Petronas and eventually the taxpayers?

As Jahabar Sadiq of The Malaysian Insider correctly pointed out, what are we teaching them about responsibility should we abolish PTPTN, and whether the same applies to NFC, PKFZ scandals?

Should we wipe the slates clean for them too?

Our graduates are already choosy when it comes to applying for jobs; will they adopt an even more laissez faire attitude later with the abolishment of PTPTN?

The students must hold up their end of bargain, period, and the government their’s.

The government should start by ensuring only quality, up-to-the-mark tertiary centres exist.

Keep them in check, and ensure that the amount paid commensurates with the diplomas and degrees offered. Do not make the students pay more to these colleges than is necessary.

Tertiary institutions must imbue our students with the correct attitude, knowledge, and skills, so that they are equipped for the country’s demands upon graduation.

Colleges and universities with a bad immigration record, those that cannot produce employable graduates, or with poor feedback from industry players should not be made to receive PTPTN-funded students, or better still close them down.

And if all these attempts fail, allow those who have yet to gain employment a grace period providing that they show proof they tried to secure one. PTPTN should not be an “Ah Long” if the students have valid reasons for their unemployment.

Abolish the one per cent interest if you must, but do not do away with a system that has seen many benefiting from it.

There is nothing free in life, and students should learn this now if they want to shoulder greater responsibilities in this country of 28 million.

Politicians will offer everything under the Malaysian sun but Malaysians should be wise enough to see through such rhetoric. If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

We have enough irresponsible people around. Let us not make it into a national culture.

A responsible nation must begin with its citizens. A government that encourages otherwise is not fit to govern.

I say, Sesiapa yang mahukan PTPTN dimansuhkan tidak perlu ambil pinjaman, sesiapa yang sudah buat pimjaman sila bayar selepas dapat kerja. 

Ingat PTPTN = Pinjaman (Bayar Yuran + Sara Hidup)

Jangan jadi  maha tak kenang budi macam mamat-mamat dan minah-minah  saperti didalam gambar dibawah ini:

Source here

"What must be said" The poem that is hurting Israel and embarrassing Germany

A pen is certainly mightier than the sword or a nuclear bomb in this modern times, a poem by Herr Gunther Grass a German Nobelist is making the Israel Zionist real mad and the German caught in an embarrassing situation selling high tech submarines to Israel that can carry and launch nuclear missiles capable of hitting Iran and Europe as well (source here):

What must be said

Why have I kept silent, held back so long,

on something openly practised in

war games, at the end of which those of us

who survive will at best be footnotes?

It's the alleged right to a first strike

that could destroy an Iranian people

subjugated by a loudmouth

and gathered in organized rallies,

because an atom bomb may be being

developed within his arc of power.

Yet why do I hesitate to name

that other land in which

for years – although kept secret –

a growing nuclear power has existed

beyond supervision or verification,

subject to no inspection of any kind?

This general silence on the facts,

before which my own silence has bowed,

seems to me a troubling, enforced lie,

leading to a likely punishment

the moment it's broken:

the verdict "Anti-semitism" falls easily.

But now that my own country,

brought in time after time

for questioning about its own crimes,

profound and beyond compare,

has delivered yet another submarine to Israel,

(in what is purely a business transaction,

though glibly declared an act of reparation)

whose speciality consists in its ability

to direct nuclear warheads toward

an area in which not a single atom bomb

has yet been proved to exist, its feared

existence proof enough, I'll say what must be said.

But why have I kept silent till now?

Because I thought my own origins,

tarnished by a stain that can never be removed,

meant I could not expect Israel, a land

to which I am, and always will be, attached,

to accept this open declaration of the truth.

Why only now, grown old,

and with what ink remains, do I say:

Israel's atomic power endangers

an already fragile world peace?

Because what must be said

may be too late tomorrow;

and because – burdened enough as Germans –

we may be providing material for a crime

that is foreseeable, so that our complicity

will not be expunged by any

of the usual excuses.

And granted: I've broken my silence

because I'm sick of the West's hypocrisy;

and I hope too that many may be freed

from their silence, may demand

that those responsible for the open danger

we face renounce the use of force,

may insist that the governments of

both Iran and Israel allow an international authority

free and open inspection of

the nuclear potential and capability of both.

No other course offers help

to Israelis and Palestinians alike,

to all those living side by side in enmity

in this region occupied by illusions,

and ultimately, to all of us.

Günter Grass

Translated by Breon Mitchell. You can read the poem in the original German here.

Now this is a post by Dr. Ismail  on the aftermath of the poem from www.veterans.com:

The Nobelist, the Zionists and Where it Hurts Most

 Ismail Salami

The new poem by German Nobelist Gunter Grass warning the world of a dangerous nuclear Israel left the Israelis with a bitter feeling of rage and revenge in their encounter with truth and the Germans with angst over ties now teetering on the brink of rupture. A first lyrical strike against the Zionist entity, the poem titled What Must Be Said was published on April 4 in the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung as a reaction to Israel’s repeated threats to launch a strike against Iran in order to prevent the country from acquiring nuclear weapons despite the fact Israel is in possession of over 300 nuclear warheads without the knowledge or acquiescence of the international community. The poem considers Israel as a threat to world peace and warns of the consequences of a military strike against Iran.

Grass’s denigration of Israel as a danger to world peace fell heavy on Germany because the German government seems to be following a secret malicious agenda part of which is focused on the Islamic Republic. Empowering the Israeli regime, which kills Palestinian women and children with impunity, is not only morally wrong but politically incorrect. This is a subtle point Gunter Grass has perceived and expressed with no fear for his life being threatened by the Zionist elements in Germany. To hear such words from the mouth of a German intellectual of an international caliber changes the way the Germans in particular and the rest of Europeans in general see Israel as they are instructed to.

It was quite natural that Israel was not able to suffer the brunt of a German intellectual’s criticism and soon lambasted at the poet and cauterized him as a persona non grata. An Israeli association of Hebrew-language writers called on the Nobel Prize committee and the PEN writers group to slam the German author and his “shameful and immoral positions”.

“They must speak: it is not political, it’s moral, because Grass is complicit in whitewashing the genocidal declarations of Iranian leaders,” the head of the Hebrew Writers’ Association, Herzl Hakak, told AFP.

Where does all this rancor come from?

Their rancor however grew more intense when the Swedish Academy rebuffed the call.

“I wish to point out that Mr Grass received his Nobel Prize in 1999 on literary merit and literary merit alone — this applies to all recipients,” the Academy’s permanent secretary, Peter Englund, said in a statement.

“There is and will be no discussion in the Swedish Academy on rescinding the award.”

Part of the poem criticizes Germany for selling nuke-capable submarines to Israel. In March, Germany announced that it would sell Israel a sixth Dolphin-class submarine capable of carrying nuclear warheads with an operating range of 4,500 kilometers.

Why should Israel need super advanced nuclear submarines? Why should Germany threaten the security in the world by such an uncalculated act?

For a number of reasons only known to itself, Germany has been making ugly efforts in recent years to empower the Israeli regime instead of reining this potentially dangerous power. The sale of the nuke-capable submarines to Israel which is to a large extent subsidized by Germany is part of these sacrificial efforts. Quite obviously, Germany is contributing to the feeling of insecurity Israel is creating in the region and in the world. One can easily envisage a world fraught with horror and death when one contemplates that Israel is already in possession of five sophisticated submarines with the capability to nuke any part of the Middle East and Europe to boot. Isn’t it horrible? Is it not enough to conjure up an image of dereliction and decay? With Israel already having at its disposal over 300 nuclear warheads, Germany is making this nuclear demon even uglier and more horrid by selling its nuke submarines.

Parenthetically, Germany is not alone in empowering the Zionist regime. A new report reveals that Washington has contributed over 115 billion dollars in financial aid to Israel over a period of 64 years, which averages out to about $4.9 million a day. Published by the Congressional Research Service, the report shows that Israel has received more aid from the US than 15 European countries did over the years. It’s amazing to note that over 67 billion dollars of Washington’s aid has been focused on supplying military equipment to Israel. Also, the report reveals that the US has allocated 3.1 billion dollars, around one-fifth of its defense budget, to Israel this year alone.

I don’t have the least intention of speaking in the manner of a cynic or a didactician but these facts and figures deserve due contemplation especially on the part of the American community who are now in financial straits. The US and Germany are of course following their own agendas and Gunter Grass seems to be putting a spoke in Germany’s wheel.

Gunter Grass is a poet and a poet has poetic license. In other words, he has the power to manipulate the language the way he desires. Add to it poetic liberty. i.e. the liberty to give expression to his thoughts. Grass’s cry of protest is indeed a first sign that suggests that anti-Israeli muffled voices in Germany are now becoming loud and clear and that the German government should think well before it proceeds with its perverted and Zionophilic policies.

Grass’s only sin is that in his poem he depicted Israel as the aggressor and Iran as the victim. And this is the part that hurts most.

If a poet does not have the freedom to express his opinion, who has?